Burnt Orange Report

Labour has lost a large chunk of support. Iraq is partly responsible for this, but I think the Tory message on immigration may have also contributed to it. It also seems that the British people are simply sick to death of Tony Blair. If (as seems likely) Labour's majority is less than 100, look for Gordon Brown to replace Blair as Prime Minister before long- certainly before the referendum on the EU Constitution.

The Tories have not gained much ground, although it looks as though they may have done better in Scotland than expected. Their message on immigration was the only issue that seemed to catch the attention of the public- they couldn't gain traction on health care or education. They couldn't capitalize on Iraq since they supported the war, and Michael Howard calling Blair a liar struck many people as hypocritical. Still, if the Tories get more than 200, Howard will probably stay as the Tory leader.

The Liberal Democrats have gained some points, but they can't form a government and they know it, so such gains are purely symbolic. A lot of their gains this year are probably temporary- Labour voters who don't like Tony Blair and who may go back to Labour once he's gone.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party may have picked up a seat or two, which might reflect anger in Scotland over both the Iraq War and the dismantling of Scotland's historic regiments (an issue which might seem silly to Americans but is pretty serious to Scots). If they do better than expected, it will put them in good shape for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2007.

It appears that the conservatives are doing fairly well no? It's fascinating to watch the difference our elections and the British. They have a very unique style. I like the fact that all the candidates get together on the stage for the declaration.

The Conservatives (also known as the Tories, for those of you who don't follow British politics) are doing fairly well, in that they have not lost ground from the last election whereas Labour has lost ground.

Obviously, they have still lost the election, but few people actually though the Tories could gain a majority in Parliament this time around. This election was really about putting themselves in a good position to win the next election, and they appear to have done so.

No, I'm not for the Tories, because their views on so many issues are too far to the right. I'm not for the Lib Dems because they are so abjectly pro-EU and I don't like the EU, and they can't form a government in any events. I don't care for Labour in general or Tony Blair in particular, not so much because of Iraq but because of their misguided domestic policies.

Basically, I favor any party which will keep the "Great" in Great Britain. Then again, I live in Austin, TX, and can only watch from afar.

Okay, I'm a supporter of the war, but I think that it would be incredibly unfair to characterize this election as an approval of Blair's behavior. To begin, he had an enormous majority- 154 seats. To overturn that would be next to impossible. Furthermore, Labour retains a lot of support because of their domestic issues as well as the fact that many individual MPs are more or less ambivalent towards the war (or outright against it). Blair's majority was cut in half, 2/3 of the country voted for another party- most of those for an anti-war party. I'd say that he was pretty soundly repudiated this time around.

This was a vote of "Who the Hell Else?" Michael Howard supported the war too, and was unpopular on domestic initiatives. People still don't see the Lib Dems as a governing party (which is their own fault). But the Lib Dems will have about 67-70 seats this time, more than anytime since the 1910s, and that puts them well on the way to being a full government party in a cycle or two. Conservatives went from being on their death bed to being a legitimate force in the next election. Labour may still have the majority, but they took a beating.

The SNP hasn't done as well as I would like (being a proud Scot and SNP supporter). While they increased their number of seats in Parliament by 2 (winning 6 out of 52 Scottish seats), they actually received less of the Scottish vote than the Lib Dems, being pushed into third place. They won some solid victories and saw off the Tory challenge in Angus, but I would have liked to see their share of the vote higher in other areas.

Of course, the argument will be made that the SNP matters a lot more as far as the Scottish Parliament elections are concerned, and people tend to vote for the "London parties" when it comes to Westminster. But while I am happy with the number of seats, I am disappointed with the proportion of the vote.

Four party politics is fun! Alba gu bra!

Here's the thing many people don't get about the British election.

In America, I can't think of one thing George Bush has done right. His domestic policies are as disasterous as his foreign policy.

In Britain, Tony Blair has actually been a pretty decent PM, who has grown Britain's economy, who has managed to put together decent social programs. In short, he's been very good at everything EXCEPT the Iraq war.

Now, that's a pretty bit "except" but it is important to realize that the only major credible threat to Blair was the Tories or the LibDems. The LibDems are in 3rd place mostly because they're in 3rd place... they made a very good showing tonight, however, and in a MMP system, they'd have a shot at governance, as it is, they secured a good chunk of the vote and had a major upswing.

Labour isn't that bad a party - it's Blair that screwed it up and it's very hard to vote against that. Which is why most people didn't vote against that, they merely just stayed home and watched the Tories and the LibDems gobble up some of the fringe seats.

Another important thing to note is that Labour is going into government with a majority at 36% of the vote. 36! That's a horrible perversion of democracy and over there as well as here there needs to be a change to a proportional representation system.